[Paul_Moxhay]

Now this one is more of a challenge...

Can anyone claim membership yet?

 

[RalphGoodson]

I live at the top of a big hill, I'll take the challenge

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Aaaah... the old "top of a hill" trick eh

It will help a lot I am sure but if you are fully charged at the top then you will not get any regen benefit until you have some headroom.

It will be interesting to see if you can do it - GO FOR IT!

 

[Duncan]

Aaaah... the old "top of a hill" trick eh

It will help a lot I am sure but if you are fully charged at the top then you will not get any regen benefit until you have some headroom.

It will be interesting to see if you can do it - GO FOR IT!

I think he will: the Ampera only charges to 90% so it has a bit of headroom right off the charger.

Of course any opinion I may have is still theoretical so treat with a pinch of salt.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I did think of that but I am not completely sure that it will go into that top 10%. I imagined that 10% was kept to help prevent battery degradation and to extend battery useful range later in the life of the life of the battery.

But as you say... I could be wrong!

I will try to find out

 

[Duncan]

Looks like Cambridge Chevrolet are getting close, but they're not quite there yet:
https://twitter.com/Cambs_Chevrolet/sta ... 28/photo/1
and somehow I doubt they've found a lot of hills round there.

 

[Benedict]

Only just noticed this. Have done 53 miles on electric on a charge, however this was amongst 250 odd miles of mixed Electric/Engine power.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Cool!

Did you do any top-up charging at all?

If not then you could be the first 50 Mile Club member YAY!

 

[taylorgx]

Morning All,
Had a bit of around town driving to do over the weekend, so thought I would have a go at joining the 50 mile club, so with lots of 30mph limit with a bit of 40mph and some 50mph driving thrown in for good measure I managed to get 53.3 miles using 10.6kWh. I generally had just the radio on with the daytime lights but no aircon and mostly with the windows down, it's been a bit warm!

I was suprised how easy it was really, only had a couple of lapses where I had a quick scoot away from the lights, but generally caused no hassle to others and matched the speed of everyone else in the flow of traffic. However since having the Ampera I am suprised how many people only slow down when they see your brake lights coming on, so I sometimes give a quick blip as a warning as I mostly drive in "L".

Next week will be seeing how many mpg I can get on a trip to Luxembourg and back, will be around 1000 miles total with the ability to plug in when I am there!

Gary

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

That is great Gary!

It shows for me the huge benefit of the Ampera. It might not be quite as efficient an EV as the Leaf but it is much more useable.

With my Leaf I cannot use all the battery power that is available... EVER! If I do I stop. This means that although the Leaf battery has about twice the useable power of the Ampera it cannot go twice the distance. Leaf drivers must retain some power in reserve to ensure they don't run out. However, in the Ampera, with the generator as a backup, all the battery capacity can be used without the risk of being stranded allowing the maximum EV range to be extracted.

I rarely go more than 80 miles in the Leaf even though the capacity suggests it should go nearer to 100. The more over that 80 miles I go the closer I am getting to stopping. Clearly how close Leaf drivers go depends on their knowledge of the car, the terrain, the weather and what their feelings are about possibly being standed. Having said that... Leaf drivers generally don't get stranded because they understand these factors.

To be able to go 50+ miles without any of these risks or considerations is a better solutiuon for many. Not to have to even think about it and yet still have an EV that can do the bulk of their everyday driving in electric mode and still have a car that can be used for long trips seems like a super solution.

So, although from a purely efficiency perspective the Leaf delivers more miles per kWh of battery power, the Ampera is actually a better electric car system to live with in many ways that aren't so obvious from just looking at the numbers. It is also about how you can live with it and how you use it.

Yes, not the best EV I accept that... and yes, not the best petrol car I accept that too. But one that is reasonable at being both. I genuinely think that the Ampera, and other future ER-EVs (extended range - electric vehicles), are going to be a big success once the price issue is cracked.

 

[m455954]

I managed it today

That was my entire commute to and from work - average of 1018MPG :lol:

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I managed it today

That was my entire commute to and from work - average of 1018MPG :lol:

:lol: No one will believe us when we quote mpg figures like that. We know better though don't we

 

[david]

It's great to see these posts - having owned a Prius the fuel performance was always below that stated unless you got out and pushed - this proves that the manufacturers claimed 50 is a reality. My own record is 47.9 for 10.6kWh but have only had the car a few days ..... hope to be back in a few days with a +50 post

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Tried to get 50 miles today - got 49.5 miles!

To be fair... I wanted it to be with a mix of driving speeds and types of road rather than all be at 30 mph or less so I did 1/2 driving around Plymouth with normal town driving and the other half was on country A roads at 40-50 mph.

Clearly this result shows that 50+ miles is easily achievable at town speeds but my challenge is to do it with a mix of speeds so I will keep trying!

Very impressed with this result though


20120602_161317 by Paul Churchley, on Flickr

 

[taylorgx]

Hard luck Paul, good effort

The problem for me now is getting out of the habit of aiming for maximum mileage, I almost choked when I could not charge the other day and had to drive with the engine running, however did try it in mountain mode to see what happens. I'll tell you, you get some very funny looks waiting at the lights with the engine running at what seems 4000 rpm, With those who do not know what an Ampera is, thinking "take your foot off the accelerator you numpty"

 

[Marshalls_chris]

48 miles yesterday ... Note to self .... Must try harder !

 

[Knightstonethornbird]

I've only managed 41 miles so far but thats driving fairly quickly.
I have driven two 300 mile trips each way to Cornwall and averaged 48 mpg which I am pleased with (again, not hanging around!)

I must say that even in Hold mode, it still feels like an electric car and the engine is quiet. If the energy saver tyers weren't so noisy, the car would be as quiet as my old Mercedes S class was at speed. But then I'm olny burning half as much fuel!

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Don't forget that the car is still being driven by the electric motor even in Hold mode so the driving feel should be pretty much the same. Except that occasionally you hear the petrol generator running in the background. That only get at all noisy if you floor the go pedal.

 

[sphhants]

Took a drive to arandel from fareham and back. Driver plus passenger and baby on board.
full tank of petrol and tyres at 36psi, air con mostly on fan only, outside temp 18C.
kept it under 50 and fully utilised regen using L drive select.

EASY! I Think the real chalenge would be 60 +. I will keep you posted.

What i was more impressed with was the 57mpg i got when running on petrol generator. I was led to believe that 30-40mpg was to be expected.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Fantastic job!

60 miles? Crickey... I am not sure anyone in the USA has done 60 miles on a single charge? Or have they???